Has it?
by Starlight Sanctuary
Summary: It has always been Sasuke. From day 1, Sasuke was the one she loved and the one she was supposed to be with. It has always been him. But has it? An odd pairing.
1. Butterflies

Summary: It has always been Sasuke. From day 1, Sasuke was the one she loved and the one she was supposed to be with. It has always been him. But has it? An odd pairing.

This is a strange story that I had a semi-dream about, so I had to make it happen.

* * *

The sun had been beaming down hard all day. The air was dry, the ground was dry, the streets were dry. Everything was dry. Sakura felt sweat drip upon her brow as she made her way down the streets of the village, heading toward a particularly shaded section of the training grounds. She had received a request to heal an injury at the training grounds, which was strange, given that there were countless ways to transport people to the hospital for treatment. She had never heard of someone who couldn't be brought to the hospital. It was also expressed to her that it wasn't so dire that she needed to rush, however.

As she walked along the grassy fields of the training grounds, looking for her destination, she took a moment to appreciate the wind picking up around her. The heat had been harsh against her skin and she felt uncomfortable with sweat beginning to pool around the pores of her scalp. The wind was a wonderful comfort. As she descended into the trees, the shade also came as a relief from the sun.

"Sakura," a voice called out from the forest. She recognized it instantly as Shino's voice. When she arrived at his location, she was surprised to discover no human injury. Instead she found Shino, standing in the middle of the forest with several butterflies dying around him.

"I need you to heal my insects," He said with a bland tone. The way he stood there, motionless without much expression on what she could see of his face gave her the creeps.

"I thought you could heal most of your insects by taking them inside your body," Sakura spoke back, both confused and annoyed by having to travel in this heat for such a menial task.

"They are incompatible and require a talented medic," she wondered why his voice was always so cool towards her. She had seen him laugh with others and show minor hints of emotion, but never towards her.

"I will see what I can do then," She walked towards some of the injured butterflies and began to delicately heal them. She was careful to be as light as possible as too much chakura would damage them. "How did this happen?"

"They are a breed that will eventually create an aromatic form of medicine. They don't, however, do well in the sun," He spoke as he leaned against one of the trees.

She felt his gaze upon her as she began working on a second grouping of the insects. The ones that began to bounce back began to lightly flutter around. She took a moment while healing to appreciate the beauty of these butterflies. Their wings were lightly iridescent, outlined by a sky blue. She wondered how many different types of insects the Aburame clan had created through breeding.

Once she finished healing, she stood up to face Shino, "It's done. Do you need anything else while I am here?" Before she had even finished her sentence, he was collecting the butterflies into a large container.

She turned her foot to leave when he spoke, "I'm heading back to the village if you wish to walk together. It's a nice day out."

She gave a very confused look, "What about your butterflies?" She placed a hand on her hip as she watched him round up the last of his insects into the container.

"This container creates a specialized environment for the insects that will keep them comfortable for the next 24 hours if needed. I will be dropping them off in the village, so keeping them in for this long is not necessary." He spoke, standing up fully. Looking at his outfit, she wondered how he had been surviving this heat being so covered up.

"I certainly don't mind if you wish to walk with me." Sakura found Shino to be positively creepy at times, but at this moment, he seemed oddly normal. He nodded his head and walked towards her.

They walked in complete silence through the fields. The forest had been so cool, that she had nearly forgotten how hot it was without the shade. She let out a huff as she felt her skin begin to lightly burn.

"Not a fan of the sun?" she was surprised to hear his voice. With the silence between them, she had almost forgotten he was there.

"I hadn't thought to put on aloe before coming here, so my skin is certainly not a fan. I love the sun, just not the heat." She looked up to the sky, squinting her eyes from the sun's light. She stretched her arms into the air, trying to vary which parts of her skin the sun was catching.

"Not many of my insects like the sun, so I tend to avoid it."

There was a silence again. That silence felt more awkward than the one before it. She could feel his eyes glancing over to her. Perhaps he expected more conversation than she had offered.

"Have there been any headway to the efforts of bringing back Sasuke?" Shino asked, placing his free hand into his pocket.

"I don't believe there will be any until Naruto returns. He has been gone a long while." Sakura began to think of Naruto. She wondered what he must look like now. He has been gone nearly two years at this point. Has he matured at all? Has he grown taller? These thoughts persisted until they reached the end of the training grounds and made their way to the west village gate.

Once they entered the village, Sakura began to take the main path up to the hospital. She expected Shino to splinter off on his own path at some point, but he just continued to walk at her side. She wondered if he felt the same awkwardness as she did. Perhaps he didn't at all and had his mind preoccupied with anything but her presence next to him. Somehow that made her feel even more uncomfortable.

She was surprised when they both traveled up the steps of the hospital. Once inside, Shino splintered off to the east side of the hospital and she to the west. No words were said between the two as they split. _What could he be doing here today?_ She then remembered the labs in that wing of the hospital. Perhaps Tsunade had need of those butterflies? Shaking it out of her mind, she found her way to her wing of the hospital and continued with her shift.

To be continued...


	2. A Strange Mission

I have some of the next chapter already written, so hopefully it won't take too long for me to crank out the next bit. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Sakura finished her shift at the hospital. It had been a slow day. She both loved and hated days like that. Slow means that there aren't many injured ninja, but that also meant busy work. She would much rather be on a mission or working on a patient than sorting inventory.

She took a moment to stop at her favorite tea shop on her way home. She ordered matcha tea and sat at a table, ready to relax. The restaurant was quiet and would soon be shutting down for the night. As she waited for her tea, she felt a presence approaching her. A small bug landed on her table. She squinted at the bug, wondering what it meant.

The owner of the tea shop dropped off her tea. She sat for another few minutes, waiting for the tea to cool. She continued staring at the bug. It hadn't moved an inch since the tea came to the table. She assumed it was either an incredibly stubborn insect, wanting to be surrounded by tea, or it was one of Shino's. She decided not to respond to it until after her tea. She leisurely sipped at her tea, enjoying the lightness of it.

When she put her cup down, nearly finished, the bug landed on her cup. She sighed, thinking that it may be a summons of some sort. She paid for her tea and thanked the owner. As she began to leave, the insect began to fly. It seemed to be leading her somewhere. She followed the insect up to the Hokage's office. Interesting that Tsunade would summon me like this, she thought to herself.

As she entered, Shino met her at the door. She sighed, "Mission?" She had been tired, ready to go home and sleep before her early shift in the morning. Thinking about her exhaustion, she let out a small chuckle, "Could it not have waited till morning?"

"The Hokage and Shikamaru are waiting for us to be debriefed," he stated cooly as he began to walk into the building. She followed quickly behind, wondering why he seemed to be going back and forth between the cool and slightly warm tone with her.

They walked down the hallway, which seemed infinite with the silence between them. When they reached the room, she was somewhat relieved. Silence had never quite bothered her so much before.

She was greeted by Tsunade and Shikamaru, both of which seemed as tired as she was. By the looks of Tsunade, whatever seems to have created that raged fueled air around her must be the reason for summoning them there.

"Our supplier for our medical supplies has decided that he wants out of our trade agreement. With everything up and around with the damn Akatsuki, he doesn't want to continue to be involved with us. Instead of coming to say this to our face, he has run off, leaving only a note delivered to us today.

His name is Irika Tazo. We have tracked him down to a small town on the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water. Oyu Machi is mostly a tourist location, but it is also a town that focuses heavily on pharmaceuticals. You have a choice of either finding our original supplier, or I want Sakura to negotiate a deal with another supplier while there." If steam could have been coming out of her ears, it surely would have been. Though, compared to her other fits of rage, this seemed tiny in comparison.

Sakura in a huff sighed, "And this couldn't wait until morning because…?"

Shikamaru groaned, "You know, I normally don't agree with pinky, but to be completely honest, it's nearly midnight. Going out right now would be such a drag and pointless."

Meanwhile, Shino just stood there without a word, not having moved since he settled in that spot.

"Because I've arranged a room for the three of you at one of the smaller hot spring hotels in the town. This town does most of its functioning in the evening. You will hardly see a person outside during the day and most shops don't open before sundown. If you leave now, you can spend the day time sleeping. It's about a 5 hour commute. You will need to get there before the sun rises or you won't be able to get to your rooms. I recommend leaving within the hour."

With much groaning, they dispersed. Sakura rushed home to put together her things. She packed lightly, but made sure to have pedestrian-looking clothing. She wondered while she packed if Shino could manage to look even vaguely like a civilian. With that hood of his, he would stick out like a sore thumb.

Once she was packed, she made her way to the village gate to wait for Shikamaru and Shino. Upon arrival, she noticed Shino already waiting at the gate, looking no different than he had when she had seen him at the Hokage's office. She placed a hand on her hip and cocked her head to the side, "Did you go home?'

"I didn't feel it was necessary," he said, leaning himself against the wall of the gate.

You are quite strange, she wanted to state aloud, but kept it to herself. Instead she said, "Have you been waiting long?" She wanted to be a little more cordial, hoping it would help with the success in their mission. She kept one hand on her hip while the other ran through her hair.

"I came here right after the meeting," he stated. She began to realize that he didn't very offer much other than what he had been asked, which made it very difficult to continue a conversation.

To a certain degree, she was disappointed that he hadn't changed outfits. The last time she really saw his face was over a year ago, and even then she had never really seen more than the tip of his nose and up. It gave her that same curiosity that Kakashi's mask gave her, although, she had seen much more of Shino's face than Kakashi's. For a moment, she tried to imagine what he would look like a little more exposed, without the cloak. Would he be less menacing looking? Would he be attractive?

Before her train of thought could continue, Shikamaru made his way towards them, "Are we ready to get going? It will be such a drag if we can't get there in time to check into the inn."

Shino and Sakura nodded in response and with that they got on their way to the Land of Hot Water. Their journey was uneventful, with little more than a few needs to rerouting. They made their way into Oyu Machi just before dawn, with barely enough time to check into the inn they would be staying at.

Sakura was the first to open the door to their room. The room was square and incredibly small. The walls were a very light, off-yellow color with a weaving texture that was reminiscent of straw. One window was placed on the wall right across from the door. Outside, she could see festive lights beginning to fade as the sun began to rise. She turned towards the door again. There were 3 cushioned mats with blankets folded in the corner, waiting to be used. She set her bag of supplies against the wall closest to the window and silently grabbed one of the mat and blanket packs and began to set it up against the wall.

Shikamaru was the first one to talk, "You would have thought Tsunade would get us a slightly larger room, especially when we would be sharing it with a woman. Not saying we can't make due, but the implication is just a drag."

Sakura shot him a glare, "You know, too many things happen to come out of your mouth that sound moderately sexist." He is just waiting to get a giant smack to the face! She felt a hint of her inner rage growing.

"Whoa, whoa, that's not what I was going for!" Shikamaru looked moderately terrified. She wondered how often his mother must have smacked him around for that kind of reaction.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed Shino setting up his mat, not responding to any of it. She sighed deeply, knowing that picking a fight with Shikamaru wasn't worth it. She waved him off and went back to making her bed.

She took off her headband and took out her night clothes. The benefit to her skirt with short combination outfit is that she could wiggle out of her shorts and slip on pants underneath without having to take everything off. Under her shirt was a simple tank top, which she would sleep in. She folded her traveling clothes into a neat pile next to her bag and brought her toothbrush and toothpaste with her to the communal bathroom down the hall from their room. After she brushed her teeth, she began to head back down the hall when she heard a loud thud in a room nearby. She put her ear to the wall to see if she could hear anything, but to her dismay, she heard nothing else.

When she returned to the room, Shino and Shikamaru had already settled into their corners of the room. The light of the sun beginning to shine through the window blinded her slightly. She walked to the window to close the curtain before settling into her bed.

To be continued...


	3. Spiked Tea

There was a light buzz in the air. A vibration upon her nose and fluttering wings. A bitter scent filled her nose that turned sweet the longer it lingered.

Sakura's eyes fluttered open, trying to understand the sensation she was feeling upon her nose. As her vision began to focus, she noticed a small insect upon her nose. At first, she didn't really react. Her mind hadn't gotten to that point of cognition to truly process the fact that an insect was on her nose. As she began to fully wake up, her eyes widened and she jumped. Her heart raced wildly as she sat up, bracing herself for a potential attack.

She heard a chuckle across the room. She looked up to see Shikamaru, dressed in black slacks, a black tea shirt, and a black fishnet undershirt. "What are you chuckling at? You look like you are going to a funeral." she growled, still trying to shake off her confusion. Her eyes then glanced to the figure next to Shikamaru. Shino was wearing the exact same clothing he had worn the day before, but that isn't what caught her eye. Shino's hood was down, the top of his shirt was unlatched, and his glasses were nowhere in sight, giving a clear visual of his face.

She felt her inner self drop a jaw. _That's what has been hiding under all of that fabric?_ Physically, Shino had very pleasant features. She had trouble looking away. _I mean, he isn't that good looking. It's just shocking. Yes. i don't know that I've ever seen his face before._ She straightened herself up, trying to shove back any and all thoughts about the physical features of either of her teammates for the mission.

"We should be getting ready to start our mission. The sooner we finish here, the sooner we can get back." Shino stated matter of factly.

Groaning, Sakura got up and grabbed into her bag for her clothing, "I will be ready in a minute. Just wait outside for me." She stated, hoping they would leave so she wouldn't need to go to the bathroom to do a full change. They both left without any form of a fuss and she was left alone for a few glorious minutes.

She undressed and took a moment to decide between two dresses she brought. She decided on a red off-shoulder sundress. The length ended just above the knee, but she opted to wear shorts underneath it anyway. She felt naked without her headband, so she strung a red ribbon through her hair and fixed her bangs. She quickly strapped her shoes and walked out the door, locking it behind her.

The hallway was well lit, giving her more view of Shino's face. She ignored it and walked with them out of the inn. "So, what is the plan Shikamaru?" she asked as they walked out onto the street. The street was glowing with multi colored lights, there was steam in the air, and music softy filling the streets.

"According to the description Tsunade gave, this guy likes a good party and is an alcoholic. We will probably find him at one of the bars in town.' Shikamaru stated, pulling out a map of the town. He pointed to 4 different bars, "These are the bars we will need to check in town."

"Then let's start with the closest and make our way forward." Shino stated as he began to walk in the direction of the first bar.

The streets were crowded, making it nearly impossible to walk through without bumping next to someone else. The people walking through had varying styles of hair and outfits. Even in the tourist areas of the Land of Fire, she had never seen so many odd and eclectic styles.

The first bar they approached was lathered in glitter. Everything was glitter. The walls were glittery, the tables, the bartenders, the drinks. Everything was glitter. Upon entrance, Sakura received a glittery pink lei, which was placed around her neck. The music was very bubbly and poppy. The singing voices she found to be mildly annoying. After taking a quick look around the scene, Sakura was the first to step out.

Shino and Shikamaru stepped out after her, only Shikamaru had been gifted a streak of blue glitter across his hair. He did not seem to be pleased about it, "Don't you dare say anything." he said as Sakura began to giggle.

"The next bar should be this way," Sakura said as she walked down the alleyway, headed to a bar called Jam Master on the map. As they approached the bar, they could hear people singing. The closer they got to the bar, the louder the singing became and the more they became aware of the true nature of this bar.

"This is one of those singing bars," Shino stopped in his tracks, "I don't believe I can go in there."

Sakura squinted at him, "Are you afraid of karaoke bars?"

"My insects are scared of karaoke bars. I will wait out here."

Rolling her eyes, she followed Shikamaru into the karaoke bar. It was incredibly loud, almost to the point she regretted going in. Someone was singing a cover to a song she didn't recognize, but even without knowing the song, she was sure they were singing it off pitch. There was a stage where the people would walk on to sing. People were crowded all around the stage, yelling the words to the song or yelling profanities. The whole scene was a did a quick search and the moment they finished, they rushed out.

"Never again," Sakura said, shaking her head and walking very quickly away from the bar.

"This is going to be such a drag if all of the bars in this town are 'specialty'. Where are the regular bars?" Shikamaru asked, looking fairly annoyed.

"The next bar is around the corner," Shino said, already walking down the road. The further they got into the center of town, the louder the mixture of music got.

From around the corner of the next bar, they could hear dark, raging guitar music. Upon arrival, what they witnessed was even more unexpected than the two bars before.

The building was surrounded entirely in black. A sign indicating the bar's name was black with a hint of a dark neon purple, reading Infinity. It was impossible to see inside of the building as the windows were covered in black lacquered paint. Sakura could feel the heavy bass of the music from inside rattling the outer walls of the building.

Sakura opened the door and as she did, she began to feel the bass vibrations of the music rattling against her body. In a quick jerk, she forced the door open. She peered around as she walked inside the dimly lit bar, Shikamaru and Shino following in behind her. There was a bar on the right side of the room and on the left there seemed to be an area for dancing. Surrounding the dancing area were cages. A few were occupied by both men and women, dancing provocatively. She also took notice that all of the people in the club were wearing black and other dark colors, often adorned with chains. Sakura instinctively turned away, her face entirely red.

Meanwhile, Shino and Shikamaru began walking through the place, checking for Irika. They didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest. She pushed on, walking towards the back of the room to assist with the search. There was a curtained portion that lead to what she assumed was another room. She pushed aside the curtain and walked through. She immediately regretted her decision because she was met by multiple "sitting areas" in use for sex. She quickly scanned the room for Irika, and once she confirmed he wasn't there, she shuffled her way out, her hands up to her face. She felt her entire body grow red from embarrassment. _What kind of kunoichi am I if I get embarrassed by something like that?_ The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she became.

She walked back up to the front of the room, waiting awkwardly for Shino and Shikamaru. While she waited, a man walked up from the bar area, "What is a colorful girl like you doing in such a dark club?" the man had black spiky hair and was wearing a leather jacket and pants with a black button up shirt. He reeked of alcohol.

"I was just leaving," she said, trying to avoid what she knew could turn into a debacle. She could see Shikamaru and Shino walking up from the back, so she opted to go ahead and walk towards the door.

She felt the man put his hand upon her shoulder. She grabbed his hand and flipped him onto the floor. _CHAAAA WHY CAN'T DRUNKIES KEEP THEIR HANDS TO THEMSELVES?!_ After her rage simmered down, she remembered that they were also clearing in a sex club. At the same time, you just don't put your hands on people. "Try that again and see what happens." she said as she walked out the door. She knew she didn't do any damage. She practically placed him on the ground like a pillow. She had this weird sensation of feeling bad, but feeling correct at the same time.

Shikamaru walked through the door immediately after her, "What the hell was that?"

"He put his hands on me," she called back, trying to be nonchalant.

"Okay, but did you have to go all out?" he asked, putting his hand on his neck and shaking his head.

Shino walked out just then, "That back room was interesting," he stated and began walking in the direction of the last bar in town.

Sakura blushed, "You pervert."

As they walked to the edge of the town to the final bar, they noticed that the music grew more mellow. The lights were less neon and harsh and were instead dull and pastel. There were little paper lanterns hanging across the shops and buildings around the main streets. It was quaint and almost quiet. This was in complete contrast to the area they started in. There were people about, but

"Why didn't we start here?" Sakura asked half jokingly.

"It doesn't make sense to walk all the way to the end of town and then walk back in the direction you came," Shikamaru stated, rolling his eyes.

Ignoring him, Sakura walked towards their final destination. They hoped they would find Irika here. Perhaps if they finished their job quickly enough, they might be able to take some time to relax in the hot springs that surround the area. She joyfully thought about the potential for a relaxing night at a spa.

They came upon the final bar and from the outside, it all looked normal. Inside the building was the bar at the back of the room. There were tables where some people sat, enjoying a meal. There were a few TVs on nearby walls, including one near the bar itself. Most of the room was a brownish color, but it was decorated with much of the same lights from outside. Unlike the other bars they had visited, this one was moderately quiet. People chatted away, but no voice particularly stood out than any other.

Sakura began searching the bar, but it didn't take long before they spotted Irika Tazo sitting at one of the tables, eating pork buns and sipping upon sake. Sakura looked over to Shikamaru and Shino and nodded her head in Irika's direction. Shikamaru sat down at a nearby table, indicating that they should group up.

"We should wait him out at this bar. It would cause less of a scene if we can capture him on the road than if we did this inside a business establishment," he turned to Shino, "I want you to place some kind of a tracker on him, in case we lose him somehow."

"What do you want me to do?" Sakura asked.

"When he exits the bar, I want you to follow him out. How you engage in conversation is your choice, but you should lure him into an alley. We will be out right after you."

"So, what should we do in the meantime?" she asked, running her fingers through her hair.

"We could start with some food," Shino interjected.

Shikamaru waved down a waitress that was walking nearby and asked for a menu. Sakura ended up ordering a set of rice cakes and some tea. They waited silently. She didn't realize just how little she had to talk about with either of them. If Ino or even Hinata had been here, she would have had no problem striking up conversation.

The waitress brought some tea to the table, "We didn't have the normal cups today, sorry about that!" the waitress was sweet. She had short light brown hair and light brown eyes and a very gentle demeanor. _These look just like tea cups, I don't understand. Perhaps they have some specialty cups._

She poured herself a cup. The tea itself smelt odd. It had a tangy sweet scent, but also had a faint sharp smell that she couldn't put her finger on. She brushed it off and began to drink it. It tasted better than it smelled, though not great. The after taste left a slight burning sensation in her throat.

After about 10 minutes, their food arrived. Even with food and drink on the table, they didn't have much to talk about. It make her feel just a hint awkward. _Perhaps I should start some kind of conversation? It will look suspicious if we just sit here not talking._

"So," she began, though she was unsure of what she would actually say, "Shino, how are those butterflies coming?"

Shino stopped eating his hand roll for a moment. He seemed surprised she spoke to him,"They are coming along. Not as quickly as we might have hoped."

"You said they will dispense medicine by air right?" Medicine talk for her was easy. She actually enjoyed reading and talking about new forms of medicine.

"The kind we are working on is specifically for mental illness. Depression runs quite high in hospitals, especially for ninja put out of duty." He said, deciding to also pour himself a cup of tea. As he drank some of it, she noticed him make an odd face, "This tastes like alcohol."

Sakura suddenly felt like an idiot. _That's what that sharp taste was. Why am I an idiot?_ "I didn't even realize…" she spoke quietly, pushing the tea away from herself. She hoped it wasn't enough to jeopardize the mission. As this happened, she noticed Irika begin to move from his table toward the door. She immediately got up, but noticed that she couldn't quite stand up straight. She made it outside, but stumbled toward a wall. Everything was spinning. _That couldn't have just been alcohol._ She tried to continue forward, she hadn't lost Irika's trail yet. She more she walked, the more the whole world seemed to spin. _Damn it._

Shikamaru and Shino caught up to her. She noticed that Shino didn't look quite as put together as he did earlier. _Was the tea spiked with something?_ She tried using some chakra to push some of the toxins out of her body, but noticed that she wasn't producing much chakra at all.

"This is a substance known as Thymithol. It isn't lethal or really poisonous. It's a hallucinogenic. We should… probably get back to the hotel. Maybe sweat some of it off in the hot springs? Or just sleep it off?" Shino hadn't had nearly as much as she had, but perhaps he was just more susceptible.

"What a drag, this was supposed to be an easy nothing mission. You put the tracker on him, right?" Shikamaru asked, putting his arms around her and Shino as they walked back toward the other side of town.

"Yes." Shino stated, sounding annoyed.

The walk back to the hotel felt incredibly long. She had nearly forgotten how loud the side of town they began at was. Everything was ringing and spinning. It practically made her sick.

Once they got back to their room, Sakura sat up straight against her wall. Shino did the same. Shikamaru sighed as he stared at them, "We could have been done with this mission in a matter of minutes."

Sakura felt particularly loopy and pointed a finger towards Shino, "Well… Maybe if bug boy hadn't said we should order food, this wouldn't have happened!" She had absolutely no filter at this point.

Shino glared at her, "Well, maybe if you had checked the tea, we wouldn't be… like this," he seemed about as loopy as she was.

Shikamaru shook his head, "I'm gonna get some water for you guys," he said, leaving the room.

Sakura looked over at him, "Why do you always look like that?" she asked, referencing this blank, but seemingly annoyed look on his face, "You always look annoyed or plotting. Why?"

He looked to her, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, "What are you talking about? My face always looks like this."

She shook her head, "No, not your face, your whole demeanor… you always seem so creepy. The hood, the whole lack of being able to see your face. All of it."

He rested his head up against the wall and stared at the ceiling, "Because… my insects don't like much light. It protects them. But you are one to talk about being creepy." he rolled his eyes.

"What?! How am I creepy?!" _CHAAAA BUG BOY IS GONNA HAVE IT!_

"Look at me! I'm Sakura! I am suuuuuper in love with Sasuke. Oh Sasuke-kun! I barely know you, but I'm sooooo in love with you," he mocked her, using a high pitched voice to sound feminine, "That's creepy. All of you Sasuke obsessed girls are. He left and betrayed the village and you are still pining after him. That's creepy."

She tried to get up, in a fit of rage, "How dare you say that about Sasuke! You don't even know him!" she crawled over to his side of the room to try and smack him. But suddenly he began to laugh. It started small, but grew into an uncontrollable fit. He looked ridiculous, "What's so funny, huh?"

"This is all ridiculous," he said, still laughing. She doesn't think she had ever heard him laugh before. He put a hand over his mouth, trying to quiet his own laughter, "I hate this. I have no control of myself." he groaned.

She stopped trying to attack him and just settled next to him, "We're both idiots aren't we?"

He didn't speak, he just nodded. He pulled his knees up to his face and placed his arms up on top of them.

The more she stared at him, the more she began to take in his physical features. In her state, it was hard to stop. He had such a normal face. More than normal, he was actually attractive. Unlike Sasuke, he had a very calm demeanor. Sasuke was like fire, but Shino was almost earth like. Her mind just kept bringing up different images.

"Have you had any sort of a relationship?" Sakura asked, not sure why she did. Things just seemed to be coming out.

He raised an eyebrow, "I have friends, but I assume you mean romantically? No. I've never been much interested. Both the women and men in our village aren't interesting."

That caught her attention, "Men? You have considered men? Not that that is wrong, but…"

"When you haven't been interested, you tend to think about all scenarios," he sighed, "You are a very prying person."

As he said that, Shikamaru finally made his way back into the room with a pitcher of water and two glasses. He looked confused by their changed positions, but didn't say anything about it. "Come on, drink up some water. It'll help you recover faster." he said, handing them both a glass, "Tomorrow we will try this again. You need to rest for tonight."

To be continued...


	4. A New Supplier

Sakura woke up first. Shikamaru forgot to close the curtain before going to sleep. When she sat up, she was blinded by a bright sunbeam. She stretched, yawning a bit as she started to stand. She realized that she was still in her clothes from the night before. She took a moment to think about last night. Then she began to remember being incredibly drugged up. _Urghh how did you let that happen to you?_ She thought to herself as she grabbed some clothes and her toothbrush and toothpaste. She felt absolutely disgusting.

She walked to the bathroom and started up a shower. It felt so good to just stand with the water pouring down upon her. She sighed as she thought more on last night. " _You are a very prying person". I don't know why I'm like that without a filter. How much was that the drugs and how much of it was just my brazenness?_ She began to wash her hair. _I hope Shino is okay. I should have checked on him before I came for a shower._

Once she finished up her shower, she dressed in her next outfit for the day. She put on a deep green and lace mid-thigh length dress. It had long bell sleeves and a sweetheart neckline. She braided her bangs into the side of her hair, creating a half up, half down look. She secured it with a green jeweled clip that matched her dress. Out of her bag, she took out some makeup. She had been rushed the night before. If she painted herself up, she believed she may look the part a little better. She painted her lips red and used a brown eyeliner to paint a very subtle cat eye. She finished up with a hint of a pinkish peach blush.

Once she was done, she walked back to the room. Just like she had the other night, she heard a loud thump. She checked her surroundings once more, but still couldn't find the source of the thump.

She walked inside the room to see that Shino and Shikamaru were still fast asleep. She wondered what time it was. She took a look out the window. It couldn't have been later than 4 o'clock. The boys would probably sleep for a couple more hours.

She decided to take a look around the inn. There were many long hallways, most of which leaded to many guest rooms. She found the stairwell and made it down to the base floor. She remembered the man who checked them in mentioning a hot spring to be used on this floor. It didn't take long before she found it.

She walked up to the "female" side of the spring, which was divided by a wall, completely being unused. She took a chair and decided to sit with her feet lightly in the water. All the walking they had done from the past couple of days had her feet a little sore, so the heat felt nice. As she sat there, she heard a couple of voices on the "male" side of the spring.

"Did you see the leaf shinobi staying here?" a deep voice asked.

"Yeah. They were trailing after Irika. We slipped them some "candy"" another scratchy voice said.

She heard a few voices laugh. She estimated there to be about three people in the spring. "We need to be careful. These leaf ninja shouldn't be underestimated."

"Eh, worse comes to worse, we just off em'."

Sakura kept listening to their conversations and tried to peer through the wall to see if should could get a glimpse of the three men. The wall that separated the two rooms was too well build, so there was no way to see in. _I bet one of Shino's bugs could go in and see those men without alerting them._

Sakura quickly made her way up to the room. Both Shikamaru and Shino were asleep. She quietly walked up to Shino, crouched down and gently laid a hand on his shoulder, "Shino, I need your help," she whispered, trying not to alarm him. She felt his breathing go from steady and deep to a spurt of quick shallow breaths, indicating he was waking.

He sat up and looked at her, eyebrows scrunched, "What's wrong?" she was surprised by how easily he woke.

"There are a few men down at the spring who I overheard talking about drugging us. They are in the men's section, so I wasn't able to see their faces."

Shino sighed and then got up, "Show me to the floor and I'll take care of it."

The way he said that made her feel anxious. _I am not a burden, I just can't see through walls. I can punch people through five buildings. I am not a burden._ She took a deep breath, getting over the ridiculous thoughts in her head.

She walked with Shino down the stairwell to the floor with the springs. She watched a small insect fly out from his collar and fly towards the men's spring entrance. He looked to her and waved her back into the stairwell. She followed him back and looked at him with curious eyes. She watched him form a hand sign and his face grew concentrated.

She kept watching him, taking notice that his face was again uncovered for her to see. This time, she was able to take time to look at his eyes. There had always been rumours that he hid his eyes because you could see the insects in them, but they seemed to be false. They were a beautiful, deep chocolate brown, much like his hair.

His face went from concentrated to panicked for a moment. There was a closet across the way from them. He quickly checked to see if it was open and it was. He took Sakura's hand and pulled her into the closet. Her eyes widened and she squeeked out of shock. The closet was hardly more than a set of shelves with towels and toilet paper. She was surprised the door even closed behind them, it was such a tight space.

She had been about to scold him when she heard voices enter the hallway. It was the same voices as the men she had heard from before. She held her breath as she felt them walk by. As she stood there, she realized that she was pressed entirely against Shino's side. He was oddly warm and comfortable. _I don't know why I always expected him to be cold._

After a few minutes, their voices dissipated and she began to breathe steadily again. She looked up at him, both annoyed and grateful, "Why didn't you say something?"

"Because we are trying to avoid conflict as much as possible. No sense in engaging when we don't have to. We have their base faces now, however." He stated as he opened the closet door, allowing them to exit.

She took a deep breath in, "Let's get back up to Shikamaru."

He nodded and looked back at her, "You look pretty in green," he said before turning to walk into the stairwell to get back to their room.

She blushed and uttered a thank you and followed him back up.

When they reached the room, Shikamaru had already been in the process of getting ready. Looking through the window, Sakura could see the sun already setting. In a few minutes, it would be time for them to get ready to go out and find Irika Tazo.

"I'm gonna wait out in the hall for you guys," Sakura said, feeling a little confined by the tiny room, especially being right after that tiny closet. As she walked out, she heard that thump again. _What is that?_ Barely making her way into the hallway, something crashed right into her. She let out a gasp as she toppled over. In front of her, apparently trying to make an escape was Irika Tazo, the exact person they have been looking for.

"You!" Sakura growled as she stood up, grabbing his arm. He tried to force his arm away from her, but she gripped it tighter. Shikamaru and Shino quickly came into the hallway upon hearing the scuffle.

"What are you doing hiring thugs to drug us?" She felt a surge of rage rush through her. The man kept stuttering and not giving answers.

"Sakura," Shikamaru called, "You can let him go,"

She was confused at first, but then realized that Shikamaru had him in his shadow possession jutsu. She took a step back and took a deep breath, "Why did you stop delivering shipments to our village?"

"T-t-the the Akatsuki has your village on their target list. If I'm helping you, I'll die along with your village," he sobbed in a crazed manner.

Sakura rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, "Really? That's the story you are going with?"

"I've been threatened! If I don't stop delivering, I will be killed!" he kept sobbing, but it looked incredibly forced.

"So, you are trying to pocket our money and not deliver on our goods. Who do you owe money to?" Sakura was very familiar with the conning nature of medical suppliers. If they aren't delivering, its because they are in someone else's pocket.

Irika started shaking, "My boss is severing ties with all main villages and forcing us to come up with excuses. I'm not sure who he is allying with, but the Akatsuki probably isn't far off." he looked up at Sakura with pleading eyes, "I'm not doing this on purpose. I'm afraid I will be killed if I try to deliver."

Sakura shook her head, "You should have just said that to our Hokage. Can you set us up with another dealer? Then I want you to be in contact with our Hokage about the issue. She will probably send in another group to investigate your boss."

He nodded, "There is another supplier in town… I don't know if my boss has gotten to him." He was still sobbing, but less dramatically, "There are 3 guys trailing after me to make sure I cut the ties. They might come after you."

She looked to Shikamaru, "We might want to take care of them. Shino got a look at their faces." she turned back to Irika, "You should stay in your room until they are dealt with."

Now they were stuck in a predicament. They had no way of knowing how dangerous these three men were or how lethal they planned on being. The leaf village didn't like to deal in fights to the death unless absolutely necessary.

Sakura looked to Shino, "Where should we start looking?"

Shino smiled, "I have one of my insects on one of them," he seemed quite proud of himself with that one.

 _He has a gorgeous smile._ With his face always covered, any time he might have smiled would have gone unseen. The longer the held her attention on his lips, the more her mind started to wander.

"Wonderful, then let's get to it." She said, turning her attention away from him.

They followed Shino to the location of his insect. They crossed through a few different hallways into a stairwell that would lead to the outside. Sakura wasn't sure what kind of situation would be awaiting them, which made her a bit anxious. She felt for her weapons pack on her thigh, just to make sure it was there.

They walked through the door leading to the outside, finding themselves at the back of the building. The three ninja would be nearby. "Around this way," Shino said as a small hoard of insects spread out and made their way around the corner. She wondered what he could be planning, but knew whatever it was she knew it would be something genius.

As they entered within a few hundred feet of the enemy, they spread out, hiding behind and on top of buildings, trying to decide the best plan of attack. The three men were leaning up against a wall on the side of a shop in an alley. She noticed the men start to squirm, jumping around. Perhaps it was the insects. Sakura watched Shikamaru get into position to possess the men. Sakura jumped down to distract them until he was ready.

"Hey!" She called at them. She could see the men struggling against the insects. It looked like they were pricking them, based on the small red dots on their skin.

One of them screamed out at her, "You leaf bitch!"

"You want to tell me what you are doing poisoning Leaf Shinobi?" She said, walking up to them angrily. As she did, she noticed one seem to vanish. _That's the same technique that Irika was using to hide from us earlier._ She took out a kunai, "Why are you here?" She readied to attack.

She was hit from the side towards the wall. She flew against the wall closest to her. When she was hit again, she was able to react quickly enough to grab his arm and fling him towards the other two men. He landed on his men and seemed to come out of his cloak. _What kind of jutsu can give you that ability?_ At that point, Shikamaru had captured the three men into his jutsu.

Shino jumped down to stand beside her. "Who hired you?" he questioned, but the three men stayed silent.

They questioned the men until the began to talk. They were hired by Yamoi Tsugaki to keep Irika Tazo quiet. Being hired hands, they had no real loyalty to Tsugaki and were willing to abandon their mission for a small fee, enough for Sakura to pay out of pocket. Apparently, they weren't being well compensated.

After they left the scene, they went to find Irika again, but found he had left, leaving behind the information of the supplier in town.

The approached the building of the supplier. It was a white building, resembling a clinic. The woman they received information about was called Izayoi, who was apparently the woman who ran the clinic as well. When they arrived at the front desk, they asked for her. The woman at the counter directed them to wait before sending them in to speak to her. After how the previous night had been, they expected this to be so much harder.

"Are you the shinobi from the Leaf?" a short, well aged woman asked, approaching them.

Sakura answered, being the medical liaison, "Yes. We are seeking a new supplier for medical supplies. We were given your information."

The woman smiled, "Oh? Ol' Tsunade needs my help." she laughed heartily, "She will need to pay her debts first!" the little woman quickly stepped behind the counter, which completely covered her. She was so short that the counter went well above her head. After a minute, she walked back with a piece of paper and handed it back to Sakura.

She took a look at it and she felt the blood drain from her face. Then the rage came, "WHAT ON EARTH?!" The bill was for enormous. She is not sure if Tsunade would even be able to pay this, considering how financially irresponsible she was.

"As long as she pays that, we can do business!"

With that, there mission was complete. Sort of. Sakura dreaded the conversation she would have to have with Tsunade and Shizune.

They walked back to their room, packed up and got ready to head back to the leaf village.

To be continued...


	5. Dirty Thoughts

Warning: This chapter gets into a little bit of the T-plus-ish area at the very end of the chapter.

Upon entering the village, Shikamaru, Shino and Sakura were met by Shizune who instructed them to report immediately to Tsunade. When the entered the Hokage's office, Tsunade greeted them with a moderately annoyed look upon receiving their report.

"You couldn't get our original guy, so you got Grandma Shinju?" she barked, seeming quite annoyed.

"I followed my orders. It isn't my fault you didn't pay your debts," Sakura grumbled under her breath. When she realized she had just said that aloud, her eyes widened. Tsunade's hair looked like it was possessed. Every time she got mad, it seemed like chakra oozed out of her, bringing locks of her hair into the air.

"What was that?" Tsunade growled, looking like she might destroy the next person who made a snide comment.

"Is there anything else you would like us to do?" Shikamaru asked, trying to get away from the angry back and forth. He looked and sounded tired.

Tsunade shook her head, "I will be keeping an eye on the situation with our last supplier. It is strange for a group like that to go rogue. You may be called upon again if needed, but for now, you are free to go." It felt like an eternity waiting for Tsunade to dismiss them, but Sakura was pleased when she could finally go home to sleep in her own bed.

The three of them walked out from the Hokage's office. Shikamaru walked left towards his home, leaving Sakura to walk with Shino until he would eventually splinter off. Not long after Shikamaru had left, Shino asked, "Do you want me to walk you home?"

The question surprised her, but she smiled and chuckled a little bit, "What, do you not think I can get myself home in one piece? I can do a lot of hurt with the skills I've built up over the last couple of years." For some reason, she was still trying to justify her strength and her ability to take care of herself.

"And yet for all of that skill, you got drugged up by a couple of lesser ninja," he stated, half jokingly.

Sakura blushed, recalling their drugged state from the night before. It was highly embarrassing, "Hey, watch it bug boy. You were just as incapacitated as I was! " she playfully jabbed back.

She saw a hint of a smile from just the little bit of exposed face she could see under his hood and collar. Her mind kept glimpsing back at what his smile looked like when she could see his full face. She hated to admit it, but she wished that she could see his full smile now. "So I was," he didn't seem bothered by her playfulness. It almost seemed like he was welcoming it.

She decided to humor him with his original question, "Which way do you live? I wouldn't want you walking out of your way for the sake of politeness."

"I planned to walk around for a while. I'm not very tired," he said blandly. She suddenly missed the small spark of playfulness that had been between them only moments earlier.

She nodded. She felt similar. The events of the night had gotten her pretty wired, though the 5 hour walk was the real hitter, "Do you want a partner to walk with?" she regretted the way she phrased that. It sounded a little too intimate for their relationship. Her mind wandered, imagining what a walk with him might lead to. She thought of his lips curved into that attractive smile that she couldn't take her eyes off of. She blushed and tried to shake it off. _Stop it! Why am I so gross?_

She couldn't quite tell what kind of look he had on his face, but she guessed it was that of confusion. He put his hands in his pocket, "Not tonight," he started. She felt her heart drop, as if she had been rejected in asking someone out. "But perhaps we could get food or train together at some point. If we are selected to be on a team again, it would be beneficial if we were more familiar with each other's personalities."

For some reason, she felt her anxiety settle. At the same time, imagining either eating or training together felt intimate to her. Then again, that was probably because she was a female and he was a male. If a female friend had made that same statement, she wouldn't have felt the strange warmth she did from when he said it. _That's a huge double standard. He's expressed that he isn't interested in anyone romantically at all. Perhaps he is incapable of that._

She realized that she hadn't responded to his statement for a slightly long period, which made it a little awkward when she stated, "I would enjoy that." _What on earth does that mean, Sakura? You would enjoy that? Come on…_ Before she had even realized it, they were already at her door. "Thank you for walking me home," she said, holding back a blush of embarrassment for not realizing her surroundings enough to see how close she had been to home moments earlier.

"Of course," He responded and turned to leave. Before he walked off, she could heard him say very quietly, perhaps it was to himself, "You're very interesting."

She blushed, watching him walk away. She stood there, looking ridiculous as she was leaning against her door, thinking about what that could have possibly meant. His words from the night before echoed in her mind, " _I have friends, but I assume you mean romantically? No. I've never been much interested. Both the women and men in our village aren't interesting."_ Surely that didn't mean anything in relation to that.

She shook her head and unlocked her door. Her apartment was very dark and quiet. Oddly enough, she kind of missed the bustling noise of Oyu Machi, just a little bit. Not enough to live there, but still. She walked through the darkness up to her room, taking off her clothes and flinging them into the hamper. She emptied her bag, throwing her other clothes into the hamper as well. She considered putting them in the washer, but at this point, she didn't feel like doing much other than brushing her teeth and laying down.

After she brushed her teeth, she laid in her bed. It was so much more comfy than the mat she had slept on for the past two nights. As she laid there, she felt her mind wander. She thought about the coming day and what to do with it. She didn't have another shift at the hospital for two days. Perhaps she would take a day off to relax. Her mind then considered Shino's words, "... _perhaps we could get food or train together…"_ She considered what those scenarios might look like.

The first scenario she imagined was them meeting up at Ichiraku with him in his regular clothes. _She imagined the friendly meeting to be bland, with hardly a word said between the two. Their seats would be far apart from each other and his voice would be cool and disinterested as it usually was towards her. She would feel awkward and eventually the meeting would be over._

She imagined another version of the scenario. _He arrived wearing what he had the other night, face and eyes fully exposed. They would sit next to each other, talking endlessly about their life, family, training, and goals. She would feel saddened when their lunch meeting would come to an end._ But the scenario wouldn't end there. _They would go on a walk together, never seeming to run out of things to talk about. Somehow they would end up at the same woods where she had met him to save his butterflies._ Her breathing began to get shallow as the scenario continued.

 _At some point, he would take her hand and face her. He would take her hand to his face and kiss her palm, watching for her reaction, which would be longing. His hands would gently slide up her arms, making her shiver delightfully as he reached up to cup her face. His thumbs would gently rub against her cheekbones and he would lean in close, but only close enough for their noses to touch. He would stare into her eyes and she would sense the same longing that she felt. She would make the first move, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in to press her lips gently against his. His hands would move to her waist, pulling her closer as he kissed her back. What would start as a gentle kiss would become more fervent, with a sense of desperate need. His tongue would make his way into her mouth and her tongue would meet his gladly. She imagined he would taste lightly sweet and cool. He would soon press her hard against a nearby tree, gripping at her hips and pressing his against hers. She would feel his need against her thigh…_

She shook her head, trying to put those thoughts out of her mind. She pulled her hands to her face, blushing intensely. She was intensely aroused, which made it hard to ignore everything she just imagined about Shino. _I must be incredibly lonely to be having such thoughts about him._

She turned on her side, trying to ignore her aroused state, but to no avail. She succumbed to her weakness and pleasured herself, thinking of her imagined scene in the woods until she had had enough and fell asleep.

To be continued...


	6. Meditations

This is kind of a 2 in 1 chapter. It starts in Shino's POV in the beginning and eventually gets back into Sakura's. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Shino felt odd as he walked away from Sakura's house. Things had taken an interesting turn over the past couple of days. He had been on many missions with Shikamaru. He knew exactly how Shikamaru fought and what kind of attacks would be complementary with his. Sakura's fighting style, on the other hand, he was not familiar with. When she was at the akademy, she was mostly brains. And while she could perform all of the jutsu needed to pass her final exam, she didn't excel much at hand to hand combat. He knew she had started working with the Hokage in the healing arts, but he didn't know much else beyond that.

He recalled watching her earlier, how she grabbed the man who struck her by the arm and flung him into his teammates. That was pure strength. She barely had to move to do the damage she had done. It had been hard to picture a woman with that kind of strength, but then again, their Hokage was known for punching enemies through walls and crumbling mass holes in the earth. Perhaps that is a skill she has taught Sakura as well.

The village was quiet, which had been nice compared to the night before. All the loud parties and clubs had given him a headache even before he had gotten drugged. Being drugged was embarrassing considering his intelligence level. He had been distracted, not paying attention like he should have been.

Sakura gave off a very calm and nurturing presence. Her voice was mellow and easy to listen to. He liked those qualities about her. It was much different than how she had been a few years prior. Her obsession with Sasuke made it difficult to discern what was her and what was the act she put on to try to "win" him. Though he could tell she still harbored great affection toward Sasuke, her identity was not based solely on him anymore. It was as if he had been meeting her for the first time during this mission and it distracted him. He had been pulled in and wanted to observe her more.

His mind then wandered to the drugging itself. They were both drugged up and lost whatever filters they had. He had mocked her loudly and openly for her Sasuke obsession. She nearly lost it. He wondered how his health would have been if he had mocked her like that when she was sober. She didn't seem to hold a grudge for his mocking her. Even if she were to hold a grudge, it wouldn't make his accusations any less true. Her obsession with Sasuke… Every girl's obsession with Sasuke was just ridiculous. Though, what did he know about love? He had never been romantically in love, nor had he really felt anything beyond the realm of friendship.

He wondered what it was Sakura truly felt when she said that she loves Sasuke. Was there a particular emotion that just screamed "love"? It wasn't that he was bothered that he hadn't found some form of love, but that it was just one of many emotions he had never experienced. And even if he had experienced the emotion, he wouldn't know what to do with it. He wouldn't be the type of person to go shouting it to the world like all the girls in the village seem to do.

Shino sighed. Originally, his intent for walking had been to check on a few of his breeding nests, but now he just wanted to walk to process the things he had experienced. His mind had been particularly focused on Sakura. _She asked to join me on this walk. Why? I don't even know._ He didn't like the idea that he couldn't accurately assess people's motives. After he declined her offer to walk with him, he vaguely regretted it.

He climbed up to one of the rooftops and stared up at the sky, watching the nighttime insects fly about. His mind wandered to insects and their mating rituals. Good humans acted much like birds, putting a lot of time and effort into courting. Insects, on the other hand, mated for necessity. There was no love or feelings involved. His entire world revolved around insects, however he wasn't sure that that was the kind of life he wanted to live sexually or romantically.

His eye caught a glimpse of a green dragonfly flying overhead and his mind wandered back to Sakura. The green of the dragonfly reminded him of the green lace dress she had been wearing. It was almost the exact shade of his favorite color green. _Just like her eyes._ It was easy to be fixated on her appearance. She was beautiful. _I wonder if her personality is as beautiful as she has grown to be._ He knew she was intelligent, but intelligence manifests itself in so many different ways.

He stood up, stretching as he did. He decided to make his way to his nests. He couldn't let his thoughts distract him from his work, as pleasant as some of those thoughts were. Once he was finished feeding and testing the insects for the skills he wanted to breed, he walked home.

* * *

Sakura woke rather late in the morning, which was unlike her. She stretched as she sat up in bed, running her fingers through her hair. As she got up, she began to recall the night before, how she had pleasured herself to the thought of Shino. She blushed deeply, trying to push it away from her mind.

She put her clothing from the trip into the washer and took a long shower. As she showered, she thought about what she might want to spend the day doing. She debated between training or going to see Ino. Training would have probably been the more productive and correct usage of her time off, however she needed the social interaction, so she decided to go see Ino.

Sakura dressed herself in a pair of white jeans, a white tank top and a dark green cardigan buttoned over top. She decided to braid her hair into pigtail french braids and tied her headband in its usual position. She slipped on some sandals before heading out the door.

It was a little chilly out with the breeze, but the sun gave enough warmth that it wasn't bothersome. She made her way through the village, passing many shops as she made her way to the center of town where the Yamanaka Flower shop was. When she arrived, ino had been working in the back of the shop, organizing their flower shipment into different vases. Sakura walked up to the counter and decided to hide herself. She wanted to see if she could give Ino a little scare. She held a hand over her mouth as she tried not to giggle.

Ino eventually came out from the back and made her way to the front of the shop to put out the individual flowers. When she reached the counter, Sakura jumped up, "Ino-pig!" she said loudly with a large smile on her face. Ino jumped and was startled and let out an "eep", nearing dropping her flowers.

Ino had a moment of rage, "Why you… I almost dropped my flowers, you big dumb… forehead!" She placed the flowers down while Sakura laughed at her reaction.

Sakura had laughed so hard she was nearly in tears, "Now that I have got your undivided attention. Do you want to go get some lunch?" she asked innocently.

Ino rolled her eyes, "You've sure got some nerve giving me a scare and then deciding you want to eat together." Sakura could tell she was acting like she was thinking about going or not, "I suppose lunch would be nice, even if it has to be with a giant forehead like yours." she stuck her tongue out, "My mom will be back in a few minutes, so she'll be able to take over then. Anything interesting happen lately?"

Sakura's mind immediately clicked back to Shino, but she tried to force it away, "i just got back from a mission yesterday. Tsunade sent me with Shikamaru and Shino to fix a supplier situation with our medical supplies."

Ino had that prying look on her face, "Where did she send you?" _Oh no, she is just gonna ask for every single detail._ Sakura thought to herself.

"The Land of Hot Water to a town called Oyu Machi. It was a very strange party oriented town," As Sakura had finished that sentence, Ino's mother walked into the shop.

Ino's mother gave a large smile, "Oh! Hello Sakura. We haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"

Sakura smiled, knowing full well if Ino didn't bail them out of the shop that Ino's mother would try to engage them in conversation for over an hour. "I've been good!"

Ino immediately interjected, "We are going to go to lunch!" it seemed that she and Sakura were on the same wavelength.

Ino's mother nodded and continued smiling, "Oh, good! Have fun!"

So, with that, they left before anything else needed to be said. "Shoo, It's a good thing my mother doesn't make much of a fuss about anything," Ino said as they began walking, "Where do you want to go?"

"I've been in the mood for fresh spring rolls." Sakura stated, thinking about the yummy sweet chilli dipping sauce.

"Sounds good!" Ino smiled as they began to walk towards the restaurant, "So, what was the town like?"

Sakura had hoped Ino's mother coming in would have distracted her from that question, "It was full of different bars and clubs. The people only came out at night. The place looks deserted during the day."

"Were there any fun clubs?"

"Well…" Sakura started, trying to figure out the right way to describe it all, "There was a club that was full of glitter. Another was a karaoke bar, which wasn't exactly my kind of thing," she blushed thinking about the BDSM club with the sex room, "Then there was a goth club of some kind," she wasn't in the mood to get into the details of what she saw there, "The last one was a regular bar. It had TVs and decent food."

Ino raised an eyebrow, "Oh, so you ate at one of the bars?"

Sakura let out a restrained chuckle, "Yeah, while waiting for our original supplier to finish drinking, we ordered food as to not raise suspicion."

They arrived at the restaurant and sat down at a little table against the back wall. The restaurant was cute, the tables were brown with beautiful birds and plants engraved and painted upon them with a smooth glass cover to protect them. The walls were very much the same. They ordered waters while they looked at the menu to figure out what they wanted.

"So," Ino started, "What happened with the guy? Did you get him right after he left the bar?"

Sakura looked down and blushed embarrassed, "Actually, we miscalculated the threat our enemy posed. He had some guys who were trailing after him by his boss's orders. Shino and I were poisoned with some hallucinogenic. It made us not be able to perceive reality correctly. The largest effect was that it just removed all filters from us. I'm not very nice when I don't have the ability to think the words I really mean, but then say outloud a nicer version of it."

Ino laughed, "Wow, you really goofed up there, forehead." When the waitress came back, Sakura and Ino ordered shrimp spring rolls and some rice. "What was Shino like without a filter?"

"Well... " Sakura started, trying to figure out how to talk about it, without talking too much about it, "He called me annoying and a creeper to start." she ran her fingers through the back of her hair.

"Really?" Ino was officially roped into the story.

"He made fun of me, well, all of us for Sasuke. He did a whole voice and everything. It was actually kind of amusing to see him like that. He is normally so…"

"Creepy?" Ino finished Sakura's sentence. Sakura nodded, "And did you give him a good smacking?"

"You try smacking someone when you are doped out of your mind," Sakura teased, blowing a raspberry at her, "Did you know he's never had any sort of feelings for anyone?"

Ino scoffed, "Well, he is so creepy and weird that even if he did have feelings for someone, I don't know that anyone would actually willingly go out with him."

Somehow, Sakura was offended, "That's really mean, Ino. I mean, after all, who would willingly go out with a pig like you?"

Ino squinted, a hint of anger on her face, "Okay, but still. He plays with bugs all day, he talks weird, he is always covered up. I don't even remember what he looks like, to be honest."

"He actually wore somewhat normal clothing for the mission. He took off the hood, the collar was unbuttoned and everything. He isn't unattractive." Sakura couldn't tell if she was defending him for the purpose of proving Ino somewhat wrong, if she cared just a little bit.

"Now that I would pay to see," Ino didn't seem the least bit suspicious about Sakura's words, which relieved her.

She worried Ino would try to accuse her of liking Shino a little bit, which she didn't. _That would be pathetic. Liking Shino. Right. Ick._ Her mind flickered to Sasuke, or at least, what she remembered of him. She wondered what he must look like now, "I miss Sasuke." she said softly, "and I miss Naruto. Everyone else still has their squads in tact. Mine is in shambles." she sighed.

Ino gave a sad smile, "Naruto will probably be back any day now. Then we can get back to trying to get back Sasuke."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Sakura gave a smile, though still a little bit saddened by the thoughts.

After they ate and paid for their food, they headed out of the restaurant. Ino stated that she needed to get back to the shop. It wasn't even close to evening time yet, so Sakura needed to figure out something else to do so the day wasn't wasted.

She walked along the edges of the village, looking for an unoccupied training spot. She figured she could use a good quiet spot to meditate and perhaps store more chakra. It was better than not training at all.

She walked into the woods to where she knew would be a large clearing in the middle. With the small sounds the wind and animals will make, it will do good for her concentration skills. It is easy to tune out loud noises. The soft noises are what get you. When she got to the clearing, she sat down in the middle, focusing her mind on the secondary well she had created under Tsunade's instruction. She slowly began to trickle chakra into it. _If Naruto comes back soon, I will need this reserve of chakra ready so that we can do find Sasuke._ She let those thoughts motivate her training.

Unbeknownst to Sakura, Shino had been collecting plant specimens for his insects nearby and had heard her come near. He stood atop one of the trees and stared down at her. He wondered what she could be doing, meditating like that. For some reason, he continued to watch her. There was something funny about this situation that he couldn't put his finger on. He had the occasional intrusive thought of just pouncing down upon her to surprise her. He shook his head, _I should probably leave. It's probably a bit creepy to be watching her like this._ He thought to himself before climbing down and readying himself to go.

Sakura felt a presence and immediately stood up. She hadn't sensed anyone when she came into this part of the woods. She took a moment to search her surroundings, but soon the presence dissipated. She waited a few minutes before deciding that whatever it was had gone now. She went back to meditating.

To be continued...


End file.
